THB Beer041a

There's a void in Hamilton and Warren Pyper wants to fill it with beer. Craft beer.

"I love beer and products that are well made," Pyper says as he gets ready for pitch night for the sudsy dream he has to start up The Hamilton Brewery.

Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. will be the second pitch night he's hosted at the Casbah Lounge at 306 King Street West. His plan is straightforward, he needs to raise $1 million to get the THB up and running and he's looking for investors. $10,000 buys one share, and if all goes well the investor would recover investment costs and make a profit in eight years.

Pyper's dad, Dwayne Pyper is a chartered accountant, and did a thorough evaluation of the business plan to make sure his son wasn't looking at the dream through beer goggles. "He's the one who's kept me going, he believes in following your passion," Pyper says.

Pyper's idea to start a craft beer business has been brewing for two years. He's been hosting pitch nights for four months. "If you look at the brewer's map on the Mom 'n Hops website there's a big void in Hamilton," he says. Other than a nanobrewery at The Ship on Augusta Street, a triangle between Burlington, Guelph and St. Catharines appears to be craft-beerless.

The drive to start a craft brewery isn't just a frothy dream for the 31-year-old Pyper. "I really learned about leadership and completing goals in the military," he says. Pyper was in the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry from 1999 to 2007, including a tour in Afghanistan in 2004. After the military he went to Niagara College for a culinary management degree, and now works as a butcher for Whole Foods in Mississauga.

At home with his wife and young son, he has a bit of time for craft beer making, but for the business he'll hire a brewmaster. "We'll start with three, Blue Collar Pale Ale, Riley Red (named for the combat infantry unit of the RHLI), and an India Pale Ale, that we'll have a contest to name," he says.

During the public pitch nights, people serious about investing sign a letter of intent in order to get the full package on how the financial structure of the brewery will work. Some people have signed up, but he won't reveal how many. Pyper is prepared to work as long as it takes to raise the million dollars needed to start. In the mean time he is looking for a building to house the brewery. He's close to leasing a building on Niagara Street, but is looking for a permanent home in the industrial north Hamilton. "We need a building about 5,000 square feet with M5 (industrial) zoning," he says.

There are 138 brewers listed on the Mom 'n HopsOntario brewers directory. Pyper is hoping it won't be too long before Hamilton gets added to the list. He chose the name The Hamilton Brewery after staring at the T H & B railroad logo on an overpass near his Corktown home. For the brewery logo he has changed the ampersand to a beer bottle. "It's part of Hamilton, I have a true passion for the downtown, it just seemed like a no brainer to build on THB," he says.

Public pitch nights for The Hamilton Brewerywill pause over the holidays, but Pyper is available for private pitches. He's done about 10 already.

Have passion will travel. The Pyper way.

Special to The Hamilton Spectator

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(1) Comments

By Tim|NOVEMBER 20, 2013 10:11 AM

Kudos to Kathy for brewing up a great piece! I know Warren will make a great go of this... he has the drive and the talent, and the Hammer definitely needs this to offset the bland goo that passes for most beer these days. Love the names he's chosen!